My View: Rosy view of Texas? Not for workers

Thursday

Aug 7, 2014 at 5:50 PMAug 7, 2014 at 5:50 PM

Before you load up the kids and move to Texas based on the Scott Reeder propaganda pieces, here are some facts you may want to consider first.

The minimum wage in Texas is $7.25, but the minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25. Last time I checked, more money per hour is a good thing for workers. For a cynical employer, paying workers $1 per hour less might be a good thing.

Average wages by state show that Illinois is in the top 10 with an average weekly wage for all industries of $1,004 (according to 2012 data at http://www.governing.com/gov-data/wage-average-median-pay-data-for-states.html). In Texas, the average weekly wage is $973. That is smaller than $1,004.

It is true Texas has no income taxes, but they have sales and property taxes that can put a burden on low wage families heavier than the national average (Oops: The Texas Miracle That Isn’t, Phillip Longman, 2014).

Are people “flocking” to Texas? Not really. Census data tells us that 441,682 native born Americans moved to Texas between 2010 and 2011. But it also tells us that 358,048 people left Texas during that same time period. So there are lots of people leaving Texas every year, too.

Conservatives love to talk about the lack of regulations in Texas, and how that is just wonderful for business. Yep, lack of regulations and lack of enforcement of existing regulations is wonderful for business, but how about the workers who staff the factories? Remember the west Texas fertilizer factory that blew up, killing 14 people and injuring more than 200 others? See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/texas-fertilizer-plant-explosion_b_3384739.html. It left a crater 93 feet by 10 feet, and destroyed a nursing home and damaged a school. And don’t forget, Texas companies are not required to even carry workers compensation insurance.

Lastly, Reeder called for Illinois to be a “Right to Work” (RTW) state. I’ve spoken before how RTW is a scheme to destroy unions because they tend to vote for Democrats. Certainly, unions are not perfect, but they are largely responsible for raising wages and benefits for all workers. If you like your weekends off, paid vacations, 40-hour week, thank a Union member. They literally bled and died for those benefits you enjoy.

RTW laws mean a right to work for less. The Economic Policy Institute found that wages for union and non-union workers were lower by $1,500 per year. See http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/12/12/myths-and-facts-about-right-to-work-laws/191810. Benefits go down too. In 2012, the Congressional Research Service found that in RTW states, workers made an average of $7,000 less than workers in other states.

So if you own the factory, RTW is great. You can pay your workers less and make more money. And obviously, the effect of lower wages and benefits does not trickle down to consumers. Prices remain consistent, yet corporate profits and cash on hand are up.

Texas is not the land of milk and honey that Reeder and his bosses at the Illinois Policy Institute would like you to believe. Remember their agenda: they are supported by ALEC and the Koch brothers, whose goal is to create an oligarchy of the rich that is stronger than our government. And remember FDR’s warning: when there is a private group that becomes stronger than our government, that is — in essence — fascism.